ESTACA students win the Engineering of the Future award with their robotic turtle
The Green Turtle project, the first robot-turtle inspired by the animal world, led by ESTACA students, has just won first prize in the “Talent” category of the Engineering of the Future Awards.
Organized since 2006, this national competition recognizes projects conducted by students from engineering schools, universities or apprenticeship training centers who have come up with scientific and technological solutions to meet the challenges of the future. This year, the students had to propose innovations that used new technologies to design a more sustainable world.
An original robot developed by the students of the Wave association with the goal of effectively cleaning harbour water
Its secret? Active underwater waste recognition technology and ergonomics adapted to the marine environment, inspired by turtles. This promising technology responds to a major ecological challenge at a time when 5,000 billion pieces of plastic waste are floating in our oceans. Developed in CAD (Computer Aided Design), the prototype will measure one meter long and two meters wide with its fins extended.
Tracking waste in an aquatic environment and collecting it in an intelligent, agile and energy-efficient manner
Due to its size, the robot-turtle will have a collection capacity of 50 liters of waste. An on-board sonar system is used to detect waste accurately, recognize it and collect it, once identified, without risk to the surrounding fauna. Finally, it will deposit it in a specific place and leave after recharging on a special dock.
